I had no idea when I took on this new chapter of my life, that EVERYDAY since the submission of that application would be a new adventure in itself. And as with all “adventures” there are things really good and things not so good….but with all comes great lessons learned and great stories to be told.
It’s now been 3 months and 6 days since I moved to Cuba and there’s some days it feels like I’ve been here for 3 years and 6 months and other days is feels like it’s only been 3 days and 6 hours. There hasn’t been a day yet, that I haven’t learned something new, whether it be professionally or personally. And even though some of these lessons have been a bit difficult and I have definitely made my share of mistakes, I still have to pinch myself and say “YOU LIVE IN CUBA!”
As is typical with the “rule of thirds” with month three has come a bit of “homesickness”. I will NEVER understand why it is that when I’m at home I yearn to be somewhere….anywhere else and then while away I crave the comforts of home. Any psychologists out there want to answer this one for me?!?! This will pass or weaken in time, it always does. One thing is definitely apparent though, no matter how long I live in a second or third world country or how well I speak the language, I will always be different, because of where I was raised and how THAT is so different from the world I am trying to blend into now. And more so in Cuba then anywhere else I have every been, when the locals don’t even understand why or how things “work” in their own country, how am I, as the “uma” (foreigner living in the country) ever going to figure it out!?
As so many things have happened since I last wrote (I’ve REALLY got to get on top of this blogging thing….sorry Leslie!!) I will try and break it down…..
Things I wish people knew about Cuba before they get here:
#1) If you want the comforts of home…..stay there, or go to Mexico where there is MacDonalds, Starbucks, high-speed Internet and all the “first world” conveniences, cuz you just AREN’T going to find them in Cuba.
#2) Yes you DO need your tourist visa to get out of the country….we are not asking you to hold on to that silly little piece of paper just to be annoying.
#3) Cuba is not cheap……you do lose money on the Canadian dollar when you exchange it, and yes it’s true, they do NOT accept American cash here, or credit cards linked to American banks, and you can only use credit cards in a few and I mean, A FEW places!
#4) Everything here takes exceptionally longer than it does in Canada, what takes an hour in Canada, takes a week here (and that’s being nice). There is a specific process for EVERYTHING, which usually requires a lot of paper work and several people before anything is or can be completed.
#5)There are certain things that are “just Cuba”….hard beds, bland food (with lack of choice, and trust me what the tourists eat in the hotels and what I eat and am able to buy are TOTALLY different!) and Cuba time, which is neither early, late or on time……this all depends on the person. As they say here “the Swiss created the watch, Cubans invented the time…..and it depends which Cuban you’re talking too, to know what that time is!”
Things I appreciate the most about Cuba:
#1) The people ACTUALLY communicate…..there just isn’t the availability of Internet, and cell phones are still fairly new and expensive, and blue tooth headsets…..I think Eddie has the only one in Varadero! Because of this, people still talk, they smile at you and say “Hola” or “Buenos” when they pass you on the street and it’s actually to YOU they are talking too and not some metal piece in their ear!! There is a sense of community and family and friends are still the most important things in peoples’ lives.
#2) It’s safe….not once since I’ve been here have I felt threatened or been hesitant to be out on my own at anytime of day or night, honestly I’ve felt more threatened in Calgary at times.
#3) The music and the movement…..enough said.
#4) It’s beautiful….all of it, the beaches, the oceans, the country side, the old buildings, the old cars, the uniqueness of everything, the people, all of it.
#5) If I’m ever having a “low ego” or self conscious day, I just go for a walk down the street and “fill myself up” so to speak….there is no shortage of attention here!
The hardest things for me to adjust too and things I miss the most:
#1) The little things I took forgranted……like the food options in Canada….I’m definitely not eating Vietnamese salad rolls, sushi, or anything with a great amount of flavor here. When I am home next, all family please have the fridge stocked with nothing but good Alberta beef, this is NOT the country for meat lovers or anemics!! And hot yoga classes…yes it’s hot here, and I’m doing yoga but it’s just not quite the same. Pretty much “conveniences”….like that there’s actually gas at the gas station when I want to fill up, for example.
#2) I was SO spoiled with my flight attendant schedule, one day a week off is a HUGE adjustment.
#3) Sleep is my favorite thing in this entire world AND I sleep like the dead, so having the phone ring in the middle of the night is proving to be difficult for both me, and the guests!
#4) I love doing laundry, I really do…..but I definitely loved it more with a washing machine and nice smelling detergent.
#5) I was trying to break my “hoarding” and over buying habits and this country is NOT helping those…..if you like something or think you MIGHT need it and you see it one day in the store, you have to buy it, because it may not be here next week, next month or next year for that matter.
#6) Had to add 6 to this one, as I have to state the obvious, I miss my true support system being my friends and family and I REALLY miss my dogs….they would love the beach!!
What I love about my life here:
#1) I love my job…I love that I’m being challenged and learning something new EVERY day, I love the team that I work with, I love interacting with the guests and everyone that I get to come in contact with in a day.
#2) I am able to live in a country that most people would never be able to have the opportunity to live in and I have the best of all worlds wrapped into one. I finally got it, the opportunity to be immersed in the Spanish language.
#3) I get to have coffee sitting on my balcony looking out at the ocean every morning…..and I get to sleep longer because I don’t have to wake up early to scrape my windows, warm up my car or fight horrible traffic and accidents to get to work on time.
#4) I’m learning to cook….and creatlively……cuz I have no other choice!
#5) As much as I’m busy, really busy, everything just feels calmer and slower.
The best/most unique experiences so far:
#1) Christmas Eve in Remedios where there is a massive fireworks festival that LITERALLY lasts all night, in fact the main part of it with the parade and huge finally doesn’t even start till 5am. For the life of me, I can’t remember the proper name of the whole event right now….standby.
#2) “Slime-sliding” down the jetty at the end of the peninsula…..there is a large cement jetty that leads into the Bay coming into the peninsula of VRA and as the water has washed over it over time the algae has built us and it’s now really slippery when they waves are high and washing water on it…..lets just say it’s pretty fun and worth the walk to get there.
#3) Fishing….I caught 4 my first time out!!
#4) Nights out dancing…..that will NEVER get old or boring.
#5) “Family dinners”….I love going over to my “adopted” families houses here and getting to feel like I’m really apart of something, and really apart of their families, I have been welcomed with open arms into three!!
#6) Havana….driving in it is so stressful, exploring it is a full time job, I haven't even seen half of it….. and pretty much everything there excites me, I can’t get enough of that city!! And the Parque Central Fin de Ano party was pretty spectacular.
There is still so much to tell, but it will have to wait for another day……another day SOON!! Until then….cuidate.
Con amor.
